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Deb and I were planning on writing an exchange for today’s blog because our dear and darling Sophie is stuck, but between my trip to the Desert Dreams conference and my deadline in 48 hours, I completely forgot. And Deb herself is writing and promoting her Colby series (see yesterday’s post!) and she probably forgot, too. So we’re late this morning … apologies all around.

ANYWAY, one thing I definitely want to share is how much I love regional conferences. I’ve spoken to several, all between 200-300 people, and I think that number is perfect. Big enough to have a lot of workshops and conversations, and small enough to have a really hands-on workshop, intimate and casual conversations, and more time. Also, there are usually 4-8 editors and agents in attendance, and they are VERY accessible. Even though RWA National and Thrillerfest, the two conferences I attend every year, are fun, they are definitely high-stress. If you have never been to a conference and want something smaller than the 2500 people who usually go to RWA, definitely check out a regional conference like Desert Dreams or Emerald City or a host of others across the country.

Christopher Farnsworth, author of RED, WHITE AND BLOOD, and me.

After the conference, I signed at the Poisoned Pen, a fabulous mystery bookstore in Scottsdale. (I’ll be at Mysterious Galaxy in San Diego this Saturday!) I signed with Christopher Farnsworth, who writes about a vampire who protects the president. All I can say is WOW. He read an excerpt and I’m sold. I don’t even like vampires (I like how his vampire is not a nice guy, he’s just nicer than the monsters he kills to protect the president.)

SILENCED is out, and I was thrilled to see it at the Phoenix Airport right next to one of my favorite people, James Rollins:

But it’s not just about me today! Our own Laura has some fabulous reviews on TWISTED and she hit the USA Today list (yeah Laura!) … Rocki’s BAREFOOT IN THE SAND has also some amazing reviews. Sylvia’s BARED TO YOU which I have been hearing tons of buzz about. And if you just look at the side bar, you can see how prolific and busy us gals at MSW have been.

I also want to share one of my favorite blogs with you all — it’s geared more for writers, but I think readers would get a kick out of some of the entries as well. Terrible Minds, penned by the Penmonkey himself Chuck Wendig, is full of great advice and kick-you-in-the-ass motivation. Yesterday’s blog — 25 Realizations Writers Need to Have — really hit home to me because I feel exactly the same way and have spoken about these topics often. Particularly this about the need for stories:

Stop. Breathe. Refocus. Media companies will rise and fall. Technologies come and go. The story remains constant. More to the point, our need for stories remain constant. Storytellers and writers aren’t going anywhere. They may need to bend with the wind. They may need to find new ways to thrive. But they — we — will always have a place. The audience will be there. We just have to find them.

Story is what separates humans from all the other mammals in the world. Stories, and thumbs.

Go read, go write, go do something today you feel good about. If you loved a book, write a review and share the love, or email the author and let her know! And if it’s a bad day? Hug someone you love. Works for me every time.

As I write this blog, I have three major things going on in my life (outside of the kids, which is always like herding cats or juggling knives, depending on the day.)

First, I’m writing a speech for the Desert Dreams conference this weekend in Arizona. When Rocki reads this, she’ll want to strangle me (fortunately, she lives 3,000 miles away) because she’s a staunch believer in writing, rewriting, and practicing speeches. I, on the other hand, usually have an idea, write it on the plane, read it out loud and edit when I get to the hotel, and then deliver something completely different than what I penned. In fact, I have one “stump speech” that I wrote for the New Jersey Romance Writers … and I have yet to give it. However, I’ve started it several times … Anyway, I had to give my speech a title. I called it “Through the Looking Glass.” I figure that’ll cover pretty much anything I want to talk about.

Second, I have a book due May 1. I was making great progress on it until I realized an entire branch of the plot did not work and yesterday I deleted over 6,000 words when that branch broke from the tree. I then wrote over 3,000 words to make up for it, but I’m still 3,000 words short of where I thought I would be. Meaning, I’ll be writing during my trip. This is not to say that I know what the final word count will be — my rough drafts (like this) are generally 70-80K words, and my final draft is generally 100-110K words. But I’m stuck on the ending because of that broken branch. Time to play what if games and see what sticks.

And finally, my 18th book was published on Tuesday.

SILENCED was hell to write, but in the end I was happy with it. When I read the final page proofs I was stunned that the story came together. I had a big picture in my head, but the details stymied me, so when everything was wrapped up I kind of surprised myself.

What surprises me even more, though, is that SILENCED is my 18th published book. I feel like I should know more about this business, that I should understand the hows and whys of decisions–the decisions of readers, of fellow writers, of publishers. And I don’t. I don’t even understand me sometimes … but I suppose I should take that up with my therapist (if I had one.)

SILENCED is the fourth book in the Lucy Kincaid series, but the first book with a new publisher. Last year, I moved from Ballantine who published all 17 of my previous books, to Minotaur/St. Martin’s Press. It was a good move for me, exciting, but scary nonetheless. Change always is.

Change is hard. I’m really going to miss Rocki on this blog. Rocki is a lot like me — we’re stubborn, opinionated, and passionate. Rocki can drive me crazy as much as she makes me happy. I tried to get her to stay, but I think that was more for me than it was for her. As you know, Rocki has another amazing book out this week: BAREFOOT IN THE SAND. It really doesn’t matter if she’s writing romantic suspense or women’s fiction or YA, you know you’re going to get a great story.

Good luck, dear friend. And you’d damn well better write another Bullet Catcher book or your name is mud.

I have some good news to share. Our own Laura Griffin hit the USA Today bestseller list with TWISTED. I can not tell you how thrilled I am! She is an amazingly talented writer. And organized — far more organized than me. I can say that with total honesty because we’ve co-written a couple articles for RT. The final product, I think, has been terrific, but it’s because Laura keeps me focused and directed. (I have a suspicion that she is a plotter, but I like her anyway.) In the RT Book Review newsletter for the June issue, Carol Stacy wrote:

“Allison Brennan and Laura Griffin talk about their new releases (SILENCED and TWISTED respectively) and their experiences writing gritty thrillers with their mom status intact. These “mystery moms” are always amusing when they write an article together, but this time we get a better idea of the duality of their lives.”

And on my own doorstep, SILENCED garnered my first ever Associated Press review. I don’t know all where it was printed, but it’s posted all over cyber news sites. In part:

“Brennan throws a lot of story lines into the air and juggles them like a master. The mystery proves to be both compelling and complex.”

Writing, for me, is always hard during release week, but I’m managing. Tuesday was kind of a waste, but yesterday was better, and today will be better still.

I write all day, take a break when the kids get home, then write at night. Late — usually around midnight or one — I call it quits and unwind with TV. For example, I watched the first six seasons of BONES in three months.

Anyone here watch GRIMM? I was thrilled it was renewed for a second season. And of course, JUSTIFIED’s season three finale was amazing. Can’t wait until next January! I’m currently on season four of NCIS (why, oh why, did I never watch this show before?) And I’m eagerly awaiting the return of HAVEN this summer. What are you happy about in TV land?

And I almost forgot! St. Martin’s created this fabulous trailer for SILENCED. What do you think?

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Bio:

Allison Brennan

Allison Brennan is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of twenty-four romantic thrillers and mysteries, including the Lucy Kincaid series and the Max Revere series. She lives in Northern California with her husband and five children.

New Release:

Maximum ExposureFebruary 4, 2014

Two years before the events in Notorious, Max travels to Colorado Springs to investigate the disappearance of a college student. Frustrated over the lack of interest from both friends of the victim and campus authorities, Max tags along with the leader of search and rescue and his dog through the beautiful and deadly Rocky Mountains in the hopes of finding answers. Every answer she finds leads to more questions--questions neither the police nor the college want Max asking.
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